title: Outcomes of patients treated with noninvasive ventilation by a medical emergency team on the wards.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Initiation of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) on the wards is not universally accepted. Medical emergency teams (METs) provide acute care and monitoring to deteriorating patients on the general wards. Whether it is safe for an MET to start NIV in ward patients with respiratory distress remains unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated 1,123 MET calls in 30,217 ward patients between January 2009 and June 2011 from the prospectively maintained MET database in our tertiary care hospital. We identified ward patients with acute desaturation (< 90%) and tachypnea (breathing frequency > 28 breaths/min), for whom an MET was called. Subjects transferred to the ICU at the end of an MET call were excluded. The remaining ward subjects were divided into 2 groups: patients who were not started on NIV by the MET; versus patients who were started on NIV by the MET. The primary outcome was endotracheal intubation or ICU transfer within 48 hours of MET activation. Secondary outcome measures were 28-day mortality and ICU mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred thirty-eight MET subjects met the study criteria, and 109 immediate ICU transfers were excluded. Of the remaining 129 ward subjects, 54 were in the NIV group, and 75 in the no-NIV group. The NIV group subjects were sicker (mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score 17.6 ± 5.1 versus 14.4 ± 5, P < .001). Subjects with pulmonary edema, COPD exacerbation, or asthma exacerbation were more likely, while those with pneumonia were less likely to be placed on NIV. The primary outcome was reached in 2/54 (3.7%) of the NIV subjects and 12/75 (16%) of the no-NIV subjects (P = .03). There was no significant difference (P > .30) between the groups in 28-day mortality (7.4% vs. 13.3%) or ICU mortality (3.7% vs 8%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In selected ward patients, especially those with COPD or pulmonary edema, NIV can be safely initiated by an MET.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Imran
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Khalid
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sherbini
authors.forename: Ismael
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Qushmaq
authors.forename: Mohammad R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Qabajah
authors.forename: Amina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nisar
authors.forename: Tabindeh J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Khalid
authors.forename: Wasfy J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Hamad
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D057209:Hospital Rapid Response Team; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063087:Noninvasive Ventilation; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000628:therapy; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000628:therapy; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: medical emergency team; mortality; noninvasive ventilation; tachypnea; ward patients